


Fade Into Me

by euanthae



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Platonic Obikin, real sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24381907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euanthae/pseuds/euanthae
Summary: It's been a long long timeSince I've seen sunlight through the rainSince I've felt love or truth, It's strangeBut I left bliss back where I cameAnd I won't lieIt's taken so long to feel okay
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Fade Into Me

Anakin Skywalker is afraid to die. 

From a young age he had understood how fickle life could be; he had seen slaves gathering in a circle and trying to save one of their own from a beating that left lesions even a medic couldn’t fix, but more than that, he had seen how quickly hopeful expressions turned to limp arms and glossy eyes. 

His mother did everything she could to protect him from moments like those, and when the time came for a buyer to pick and choose, Shmi was the one to beg for easier work, or as easy as the life of a slave could be. Watto was a horrible man and his anger flared up every time Anakin spoke, but at least they were alive. 

It was years later, when Anakin would hold his mother in his arms, that he felt the cold pool of death wash away the safety the Jedi had accustomed him to. The threads of mortality were sewn together and the only things he could see past the cotton over his eyes were the severed limbs of the ones who had dared to take his mother away. 

It was only later, when Padme held him and swore not to judge his grief, that the warmth crashed over his head again and he felt the first gulp of relief. She sat beside him and whispered such sweet things and he knew for everything he held dearly, she was the light in the center of it all. 

But, the light was gone. It had been for years now, and though he could not feel it anymore, it stuck to the back of his skin like a cold sweat. 

Anakin Skywalker was dead, and Darth Vader had consumed him. 

Darth Vader wasn’t afraid of death. It had become a fixation of his for many restless nights, and some larger part of him wished it had been his fate instead of this prison cell that could only prove to make existence as painful as the death’s he had caused. It felt like something akin to punishment. 

To him, Anakin was weak where he could not be, and it was this same weakness that caused him to lose his life on Mustafar. It was pathetic, and Darth Vader refused to be anything less than the perfect machine-- even if he was too human in the end. 

It was Anakin’s weakness that caused him to die; his attachment to his children had broken through the metal skeleton of Darth Vader and suddenly the man so scared of death had been reborn.  
He could see his son, and more than that, he saw Padme’s reflection in the way Luke begged him to hold on and stay alive. It was the same light in her that had held onto his son and led him here. 

The light was back, and it was whispering the same way she used to, but now the words were of letting go and coming home, and he couldn’t help but listen to her. It was time to go, and he couldn’t imagine a more peaceful ending. 

Anakin Skywalker is dead, but there is no eternal sleep, nor is there a Heaven with pearly gates. Instead, there are his knees, pressed down on the black ground, and there is someone running towards him. They’re yelling and waving but he can’t hear anything, and even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to focus on anything other than how his body is his again. 

There's still one metal arm, but the rest of him is flesh and he can feel the ache in his muscles and the drops from his eyes, and it feels so much like life he can’t help but let out a long gasp. 

Anakin Skywalker is free. 

There’s no more yelling, but there are footsteps coming closer, and when he looks up to see a brown robe fall to the ground, he has just enough time to breathe out before there are arms wrapping around him and a head tucking itself into his neck. 

“Obi-wan, I’m so sorry,” He’s shaking now, shoulders drawing up as all of the shame he pushed away comes flooding out of him. When did it come to this? Why did it come to this?

“I know, dear one,” Obi-wan breathes out, “Oh, how I know.” 

There’s a hand combing through his hair and one gripping his tunic, and really, it should be suffocating, but he hasn’t felt this safe in years and the love pulsing over their bond tells him all he needs to know. 

Anakin Skywalker is home, and the light is there to welcome him.


End file.
